# CVE-2022-40538: Reachable assertion in Modem

> A reachable assertion in the modem allows a remote attacker to cause a transient denial of service by sending malformed system information blocks.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c9r2-56cr-xpqg

## What is CVE-2022-40538?

CVE-2022-40538 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware, published on 6 Jun 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Transient DOS due to reachable assertion in modem while processing sib with incorrect values from network.

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-40538?

It affects 13 products.


Products: Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware, Qualcomm Qca8081 Firmware, Qualcomm Qca8337 Firmware, Qualcomm Qcn6024 Firmware, Qualcomm Qcn9024 Firmware, Qualcomm Qcs8550 Firmware, Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5g Modem-Rf System Firmware, Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 Modem-Rf System Firmware, Qualcomm Wcd9380 Firmware, Qualcomm Wcn685x-1 Firmware, Qualcomm Wcn685x-5 Firmware, Qualcomm Wcn785x-1 Firmware, Qualcomm Wcn785x-5 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-40538?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-40538 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-40538 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-40538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware

- [CVE-2023-33106](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33106/): Qualcomm Multiple Chipsets Use of Out-of-Range Pointer Offset (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-45569](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45569/): Improper Validation of Array Index in WLAN Host Communication (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-21473](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21473/): Improper Input Validation in WIN SON (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-28582](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-28582/): Buffer Copy Without Checking Size of Input in Data Modem (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-43552](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43552/): Use After Free in WLAN Host Communication (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-40538 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-40538 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware, published on 6 Jun 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-40538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40538/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40538/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-40538
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-40538
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-40538

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40538/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.